One Of Kanye’s Foremost Songwriters, CyHi The Prynce, Is Finally Stepping Out From Behind The Curtain

That shouldn’t come as a surprise. Over the years, he’s developed a reputation as G.O.O.D. Music’s man behind the curtain, writing some songs and punching up others to keep the overall quality of the label high. CyHi is arguably more responsible for what we think of as Kanye West’s sound in 2017 than anyone outside of ‘Ye himself. He has beaucoup credits on Yeezus and was instrumental in the creation of The Life Of Pablo tracks like “Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 1.” In short, he’s spent a lot of time with Yeezy.

Though his awards and credits point to a more hands-on involvement, CyHi thinks of himself as more of a hype man. He admits that he will say when Ye can “do something that goes a little harder.” But, to hear him tell it, he’s mostly providing positive reinforcement.

“That’s why [Kanye] keeps me in the studio,” he explained when we spoke to him last week. “I’m there to say ‘Aww, that was crazy.’ I’m like Jamie Foxx in Ali. Just jumping around like ‘Yeah, you got ’em, champ’!”

Even knowing that relationship, it’s hard to suppress a laugh when he switches from his slow-rolling drawl to Kanye’s explanatory and nasal chiding. The studio svengali is aping Kanye to describe his involvement on CyHi’s new project. You see, after years of being kept on one side of the recording booth, CyHi’s finally getting the chance to drop his debut album No Dope On Sundays. And Ye is repaying the years of effort by executive-producing the project.

CyHi explained what flipping roles and having Kanye advising day-to-day on No Dope was like — and busted out that awesome impersonation — when we spoke to him last week.

“Well, honestly it’s more like month-to-month,” he said, laughing and explaining how Kanye can jump from big-picture recommendations to the minutiae of drum sounds. ” He’s a busy guy. But he’d come in and say ‘You need to take that to Mike Dean… you need to change that snare to this snare.'”

Although CyHi is thought of as as G.O.O.D. Music’s hidden maestro he extends the same ideas to the labelhead.

“He’s like the Wizard of Oz,” he said of Kanye’s recommendations, adding that West is able to help shape his solo work with just a few words of advice. “I feel like I’m taking it to the oracle. I’ve been with him long enough that I don’t need him to touch the keyboard. He doesn’t need to get on the track to help.”